LIVING FOREVERWELL IN RURAL AMERICA: RESULTS FROM A QUALITATIVE EVALUATION OF A YMCA HEALTHY AGING PROGRAM

Abstract Older adults benefit from community programs that promote physical and mental health, reduce social isolation, and offer connections to community resources. However, older adults living in rural communities have access to fewer health and social services and experience barriers to participation such as access to transportation. Recognizing these challenges, the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) expanded ForeverWell, a healthy aging model, to 17 YMCAs (“Ys”) serving adults aged 55+ living in rural areas. Developed by the YMCA of the North in Minnesota, ForeverWell is a flexible set of Y activities focused on five dimensions of healthy aging: mind, body, community, spirit, and nature. The goals of ForeverWell are to improve health and well-being, decrease social isolation, and increase community connections among older adults. NORC at the University of Chicago conducted a qualitative evaluation of ForeverWell’s expansion in 17 communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. NORC conducted virtual interviews with 25 Y staff members and 24 program participants to identify facilitators, challenges, and outcomes. NORC transcribed interviews and conducted qualitative content analysis to identify themes. This session describes findings from the interviews. A key facilitator of success was the flexibility of the model. Challenges included staff and financial resources, outreach in rural areas, and transportation access. Ys developed and enhanced older adult programming and created new partnerships. Program participants reported improvements in physical and mental health and strong social connections. ForeverWell is a flexible, holistic healthy aging program that shows promise for older adults living in rural communities.

biochemistry, biodemography, cellular and molecular biology, and geroscience.Biological insights are also published in studies from invertebrates, vertebrates, and mammalian species, including humans.With an impact factor of 6.59, this journal is one of the leading journals in the field.Overall, and although the journal is highly valued by biomedical researchers worldwide, the authors of our top and most impactful papers do not usually have the opportunity to answer the questions from their peers constructively and interactively.In addition, there is a significant number of biomedical researchers that, although members of the Society, do not submit their best results to the journal.This symposium, chaired by the Editor-in-Chief of the JGBS, will comprise six presentations by the authors these challenges, the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) expanded ForeverWell, a healthy aging model, to 17 YMCAs ("Ys") serving adults aged 55+ living in rural areas.Developed by the YMCA of the North in Minnesota, ForeverWell is a flexible set of Y activities focused on five dimensions of healthy aging: mind, body, community, spirit, and nature.The goals of ForeverWell are to improve health and well-being, decrease social isolation, and increase community connections among older adults.NORC at the University of Chicago conducted a qualitative evaluation of ForeverWell's expansion in 17 communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.NORC conducted virtual interviews with 25 Y staff members and 24 program participants to identify facilitators, challenges, and outcomes.NORC transcribed interviews and conducted qualitative content analysis to identify themes.This session describes findings from the interviews.A key facilitator of success was the flexibility of the model.Challenges included staff and financial resources, outreach in rural areas, and transportation access.Ys developed and enhanced older adult programming and created new partnerships.Program participants reported improvements in physical and mental health and strong social connections.ForeverWell is a flexible, holistic healthy aging program that shows promise for older adults living in rural communities.
Abstract citation ID: igad104.0070To this day, having children is seen as the norm, and the consequences in later life when a child wish is not fulfilled are rarely addressed.Therefore, this study investigates the reasons for involuntary childlessness as well as the relationship with potential feelings of loneliness throughout the life course of older adults.Data were collected through individual life story interviews using the McAdams life story interview (N=15) with involuntary childless adults older than 60 living in Belgium.Using a thematic analysis, the results firstly indicate that respondents expressed several reasons for their involuntary childlessness, such as medical reasons, advancing age, career choices and opportunities, partner status and traumas during the life course.Secondly, involuntary childlessness impacts negatively on individual well-being on the one hand, by experiencing feelings of emptiness and deficiency, but on the other hand, having more free time and flexibility during the life course within the social network is perceived as positive.Thirdly, from the moment people realized they would never have children, feelings of loneliness arose.Also, once peers did have (grand)children, or during holiday seasons (e.g., Christmas Day), loneliness feelings became more prevalent compared to earlier in life.However, feelings of loss and emptiness (e.g., missing someone to pass on norms and values to) prevailed over loneliness feelings.The discussion highlights the extent to which older people pick up where they left off and constitute their lives meaningfully at various levels (i.e., at individual level and regarding social relations) when their child wish was never fulfilled.

LONELINESS AMONG INVOLUNTARILY CHILDLESS OLDER ADULTS: A LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE
Abstract citation ID: igad104.0071

MATERIAL DEPRIVATION AND LONELINESS AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN HONG KONG
Vivien Foong Yee Tang 1 , and Kee Lee Chou 2 , 1.The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2. The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Given that poverty as a risk factor on loneliness is understudied, this study examined the relationship between material deprivation and loneliness of older adults in Hong Kong, the mediation effects of social support and social network, and the moderation effects of social support and social engagement.A two-wave data were collected from 1,696 Chinese older adults between 2015 (T1) and 2017 (T2).All Chinese older adults aged 60 years and above, with 53.9% female.Older adults were asked about their level of loneliness, how material deprived they were, social support, social network, social engagement, demographic information, and self-rated health status.The result indicated that older adults who are more materially deprived reported a significantly higher level of loneliness at T2 when controlling for demographic variables and loneliness at baseline.Furthermore, we found that social support and the number of close children were full mediator.A significant moderator was found in neighbourhood collective efficacy and community participation specifically engagement in cultural activities.Hence, our results suggest the need to strengthen the anti-poverty policy measures for materially deprived, develop interventions focusing on improving social support and social network and enhance existing social engagement programmes that promote community participation and neighbour collective efficacy for older adults in Hong Kong.

THE LONELINESS OF LOW-INCOME OLDER ADULTS IN A FEDERAL VOLUNTEERING PROGRAM: A MIXED-METHOD NETWORK PERSPECTIVE Katy (Qiuchang) Cao, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States
Volunteering is considered an important way to prevent and address loneliness for community-living older adults by fostering social interactions.However, some social network studies conducted outside of the volunteering context suggest that increased interactions among lonely individuals can elevate network members' loneliness through the co-rumination of negative emotions.To understand how and why interactions among older volunteers might protect against loneliness, this study conducted a concurrent mixed-method social network analysis among older volunteers within the Senior Companion Program (SCP) in Columbus, Ohio.These volunteers are 55 years or older, at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, and culturally/linguistically diverse.Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using focus groups and surveys respectively during an SCP monthly in-service training, N=41.A linear Hannelore Stegen 1 , Daan Duppen 2 , Liesbeth De Donder 2 , and Eva Dierckx 2 , 1.